Card holding attachment for card tables



.May 2L w40., l. I Evm 2,201,187

CARD'HOLDING yATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES Filed NOV. 15, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet l E j ATTORNE May 21, 1940. LEV|N 2,201,187

CARD HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES Filed Nov. 13, 1957 2 sheets-sheet 2 lNvE 'roR Isra Leva-z www V Y ATTORNEY Patented May 21, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD HOLDING ATTACHMENT FOR CARD TABLES Isreal Levin, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application November 13, 1937, Serial No. 174,432

3 Claims.

' provide a single holder for attachment to a card table, said holder being adaptedv to releasably retain a deck of playing cards and scorerecording means, Y

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combined card-deck and score-recording means holder adapted to be secured to a pivotable leg of a folding card table in such manner as to be disposed generally within the projected area of the table top when the table is opened for use, and which will not protrude beyond the general outline of the table when the latter is collapsed.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear more fully from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings, the present invention consists of a carddeck and score-recording'means holder adapted to be more or less permanently secured to an element of a card table and including at least one card-deck receiving compartment, means for releasably retaining a deck of cards in said compartment, and means for releasably holding score-recordingrmeans such as a score-pad and pencil in proximity to said compartment.

The present invention further consists of other novel features of construction, all of which will Referring to the drawings, in which like reference characters` indicate like parts:

Figure l represents a perspective view of a typical card table, showing one embodiment of ai card-deck and score-recording means holder i an alternative disposition of the card-deck holder relative to the table.

Figure 3 represents an enlarged perspective view of the holder illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 but with the hinged card-deck retaining member swung into an inoperative position;-the scorerecording means and the decks of playing cards being outlined in dashed dotted lines.

Figure 4 is a front elevational View of the carddeck and score-recording means holder illustrated in the preceding figures, the hinged card-deck retaining member again being shown in an inoperative position.

Figure 5 represents a sectional view taken on line 5--5 of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 represents a fragmentary sectional View taken on line 6 6 of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows;-the hinged carddeck retaining member being shown operatively positioned relative to the holder.

Figure 7 represents a plan view of a prepared blank from which may be constructed (after suitable bending) the card-deck and scorerecording means holder illustrated in the preceding gures.

Figure 8 represents a plan View of another prepared blank from which may be constructed (after suitable bending) the hinged card-deck retaining member.

In the particular embodiment of the present invention illustrated in the drawings, the carddeck and score-recording means holder, indicated generally by the numeral II, is adapted to be moreor less permanently secured to an element of a collapsible card or bridge table, and which table may be constructed from metal or from wood. A typical table such as that illustrated in Figures l. and 2 may include a flattop portion I2 bounded by a square frame I3, pivoted table legs I4 I4, and perhaps a transverse frame stiffening member I5. It is to be understood that the card-deck holder II is adapted to be used not only inconjunction with the particular type of' table illustrated in the drawings, but these resilientJ sheet material such as the sheet metal blank l5 illustrated in Figure l. This blank iii may be so proportioned as to provide, when operatively folded, the contiguous panels of a Single or a plurality of adjacent open-ended card-deck receiving compartments il, il'. These openended compartments are each preferably bounded by the rear walls or panels ill, i3, the two extreme side panels i3, i9, the front panels 2G, i and the adjacent side panels 2 I, 2l. Several apertures 22, 22, may be provided somewhere along the imaginary boundary line separating the two contiguous rear panels i8, i8 rfor the purpose of receiving the aligned locking projections 23, 23 provided along the edges of the compartment side panels 2l, 2l. Thus, when blank I6 is transversely bent across the several fold lines indicated in dashed dotted lines in Figure 7 (each bend approximating 90), the two side panels 2 l, 2l and their respective projections 23, 23 are brought into close proximity with each other. These projections 23, 23 may then be inserted through the aligned apertures 22, 22 and bent in opposite directions in the manner illustrated in Figure 5, thus permanently and securely locking the panels in their respective compartment-forming positions.

Aligned notches 2li, 24 are preferably provided in the outer edges of the front and rear panels I8 and at the outer open ends of the card-deck receiving compartments Il, ll. 'Ihese aligned notches 24, 2d facilitate the extraction of the decks of cards from these compartments by permitting ones fingers to contact and seize the retained deck. i

An inner end panel for the card-deck receiving compartment may be integrally formed from the same blank from which the other compartment panels are formed, in which case the blank illustrated in Figure "7 would be suitably modified to provide such inner end panels, or these inner end panels may be omitted leaving the inner ends of the compartments l'i, Il open, and the surface of the table element to which the holder will later be attached will then serve to close the ends of these compartments. The surface of such table element will thus constitute the inner ends of these compartments or chambers. The holder may be more or less permanently secured to the table in many dierent ways. Thus, the extreme side panels I9, I9 may each be provided with outwardly bent projecting flanges 25, by means of which the card-deck holder may be more or less permanently mounted on the particular table element selected.- These projecting flanges 25, 25 bearing suitable apertures may each be fastened to the table element by means of retaining screws or nails 25, 26, or the like.

The card-decks are preferably releasably retained in their respective compartments by any suitable means, as for instance the manually operable latchable hinged retaining member or fragmentary lid 2l. This lid may be formed from a separate blank, such as that illustrated in Figure 8, and may be provided With a pair of hinge forming projections 28, 28 adapted to be rolled or curled up in the manner more particularly illustrated in Figure 3. A similar pair of adjacent hinge-forming projections 29, 29,v adapted to be curled up in a similar manner, is preferably provided at the adjoining outer corners of the front compartment panels 20, 2li, and may be disposed between the straddling projections 28, 28. A pivot pin or hinge pin 30 may then be slipped through the aligned curled projections 28, 2l, 21, and 28, and secured by any suitable means, as for instanceby up-setting the slightly projecting ends thereof. A latch-forming projection 3|, which will cooperate with the juxtaposed outwardly pressed or bent catch-element or detent 32, may be provided at the opposite edge of the fragmentary retaining lid 2l. An inherent springiness or `resilience in the latch forming projection 3| permits the lid 2l to be snapped into the operative deck-retaining position illustrated in Figure 6, and to be readily swung into the inoperative position illustrated in Figure 3, thus permitting the withdrawal of one or both of the card-decks disposed in the adjacent compartments Il, Il. If desired, separate card-deck retaining members or lids may be provided for each compartment in place of the common single element 21 shown in the drawings. k

. Means, preferably integral with the card-deck holder I l, may be provided for releasably retaining score-recordingmeans in proximity to the deck-receiving compartments I1, Il. Such scorerecording means ordinarily would consist of a score pad 33 and pencil 3,.such as those illustrated in dashed dotted lines in Figure 3. The score pad` 33 may be frictionally releasably retained by means of a pair of spring members 35, 35 struck integrally from the front compartment panels 2l), 28 and bent so as to permit the ready insertion and withdrawal of the score pad between these arms 35, 35 and the front compartment panels 20, `20. The pencil 34 may in turn be retained in proximity to the score pad 33 by, means of a pair of spring clips 36, 36 formed from suitable projections also integral with the front compartment panels 2li, 2B. The form, shape and size of the particular clips 35 and 36 illustrated in the accompanying drawings have been selected merely for purposes of illustration, and it is to be expressly understood that the specific size, shape and angularity of these clips may be widely varied without departing from the scope of the present invention. By virtue of the foregoing spring clip members 35 and 3B, pads and pencils of diierent shapes and sizes may be readily retained, due to the absence of size- 1 'top unencurnbered by these score-recording elements during the progress of the'games.

The disclosed embodiment of the present invention maybe modified to accommodate any predetermined number of packs of cards, merely byv increasing the number of compartments provided. Thus, the blank illustrated in Figure 7 may be slightly modied by extending it at either end to an extent determined by the number of extra compartments to be added. The compartments need not be of the same width, but may be of dierent widths to accommodate differently sized packs of cards. In this manner, the present invention may simultaneously house a deck of bridge cards and a deck of pnochle cards which diier in their respective widths.l Furthermore, in the construction of the above card-deck holder, the particular size, shape, relative position and number of the card-receiving chambers may be varied to suit particular requirements.

One of the many advanta-ges of the present invention resides in the fact that, upon the termination of the game, the decks of cards, together with the score-recording means which were employed, may be placed within their respective places in the hereinabove described holding device and the card table then collapsed or folded up and stored away as usual. When the card table is subsequently erected for future use, the decks of cards together with the score-recording means become instantly available for further use, thus eliminating the possibility of mislaying these items and also eliminating the customary search therefor.

The holder II may be operatively secured to any one of the many elements constituting the customary card table, and need not necessarily be secured to a leg thereof. Thus, the card-deck holder I I may be secured to the transverse frame stiffening member I in the manner illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 2, and indeed this holder I I may be so secured thereto as to depend downwardly therefrom when the card table is erected. In any event, the holder II is particularly adapted to be mounted on a table element in such fashion as to be within the projectedarea of the table top at all times, and to be Within the general outline of the table when the latter is opened or collapsed, thus serving to protect the person and clothing of the players, as well as thel be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to thev foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention,- what is hereby claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A card-deck holder for use in conjunction with a card table, including a card-deck receiving chamber, a deck-retaining member carried thereby at one end thereof for releasably locking a deck of cards in said chamber, and perforated flanged means disposed at the opposite end of said chamber and adapted to be positioned against the substantially fiat surface of an unprepared element of said card table for secure ment thereto, whereby said card-deck holder may be generally permanently attached to said cardl table in a manner requiring no substantial structural modification of said table.

2. A sheet metal card-deck holder for use in conjunction with a card table having foldinglegs, including a plurality of adjacent card-deck receiving chambers having their boundary walls formed from the same integral piece of sheet metal, securement means disposed at one end of said holder for securing the latter longitudinally to one of said folding legs, and hinged means disposed at the opposite end of said holder for releasably retaining the decks of cards in their respective chambers.

3. For use in conjunction with a card table, a card-deck holder including a chamber for receiving a deck of cards, said chamber being generally open at opposite ends thereof, means for holding said holder with one of said open ends against a generally flat surface of an element of said table, and means associated with the other of said open ends for releasably retaining a deck of cards in said chamber.

ISREAL LEVIN. 

